Dating is good, it's a fine product of modern times. You can't live in the stone age forever where you just bash the chick in the head with your wooden club and drag her into the cave for some bum-bum.
Now to be serious, I don't think anyone should start a relationship before high school. It's pointless, it would be just a child's play. You have to be mature before starting such a thing, and sometimes that doesn't even happen in HS, judging by some of the people amongst my friends, and their ridiclously short-lived and childish relationships.
I consider myself mature, and I was looking for a girl who is at the same level as me, and luckily, I have already found the one I was looking for. It might not last for an eternity, since all relationships have problems, but I'm pretty sure it's going to last long (well, it did so far and it's been 2 years now).